Gove has been moved from the Cabinet Office during the reshuffle which also saw Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick sacked.

Jenrick has been MP for Newark since 2014 and has headed up the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) since July 2019.

Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, said: “We welcome today’s appointment of Michael Gove as the new Secretary of State for Housing.

“Over the past 18 months housing has been high on the political agenda, with the long term COVID-19 inflicted stamp duty holiday and evictions ban due to close at the end of the month.

“We look forward to meeting the new Secretary of State and his team over the coming months and hope the department’s position and policy focus stays on track.”